Google Advertisers In China Advised To Switch To Rivals

Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) advertisers in China are being advised to switch to rivals, including Baidu (NASDAQ:BIDU), and business partners are looking for alternatives as speculation grows that Google intends to shut its Web site in the country, according to a Bloomberg report.

Last week, the Chinese government said a plan to end censorship at the Google.cn site was "irresponsible." If the dispute is not settled, Baidu and Sohu.com Inc. (NASDAQ:SOHU) sales may be lifted.

On January 12, Google said that it plans to stop censoring search results on its Chinese site after the company was hit by cyber attacks originating in China, and may end its local operations.

Chairman Eric Schmidt said last week that the negotiations may yield an outcome soon.